J Korean Neuropsychiatr Assoc.  1999 May;38(3):593-603.

Cerebral Functional Change & Clinical Response in Children with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: Using SPECT Imaging Subtraction Method

• Kim BN
• Lee JS
• Lee DS
• Cho SC

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: We conducted this study to find out topographic change of cerebral perfusion during methylphenidate(abbr: MPH) treatment and to compare between the change of SPECT and clinical improvement in subjects with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder(abbr: ADHD).
METHODS
By DSM-IV criteria, we selected 32 pure ADHD patients through various assessment scales, psychometric tools and neuropsychological battery. All the patients were studied by 99m Tc-HMPAO brain SPECT, before MPH treatment and after 6 week treatment. Using image subtraction method, we obtained(+)/(-)NDR parametric image in each patient.
RESULTS
When the change of brain SPECT and clinical improvement were compared, matching rate, senstivity and specificity between them were 81.1%, 85.3% and 75.2%. Increased cerebral blood flow in (+)NDR parametric image was found in frontal lobe, caudate nucleus and thalamus, especially in Right hemisphere.
CONCLUSION
These findings indicated that MPH improved cerebral blood flow in fronto-caudato-thalamic areas, which have been known as region associated with pathophysiology of ADHD

Keyword

ADHD; SPECT image subtraction method; Change between pre and post-treatment

MeSH Terms

Brain
Caudate Nucleus
Child*
Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders
Frontal Lobe
Humans
Perfusion
Psychometrics
Sensitivity and Specificity
Thalamus
Tomography, Emission-Computed, Single-Photon*
Weights and Measures